Baisha Mural

Lijiang Attractions

Introduction to Baisha Mural (白沙壁画)

Baisha is a small village, located in Baisha Township, 8 km north of the seat of the Lijiang Naxi Nationality Autonomous County, there are 53 fresco groups located in the hall. Baisha Mural is located at Baisha Villages, 10km north of Lijiang. Although the traditional houses do not look impressive, this was the cradle of the Naxi culture and ancient capital of the Naxi Kingdom, as well as a good place to have a glance at the Naxi culture. There are old temples with interesting frescoes, traditional musicians.

Baisha Mural are preserved among the architecture Colored Glaze Palace which was built by a headman of Mu clan in Hongwu Period of the Ming Dynasty and Dabaoji Palace which was built in the tenth year of Wanli Times in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1582). Liu Dunzhen praised highly these architectures for the ancient architectural techniques.

Painted from the 17th year (AD 1384) of the Hongwu Times to the 11th year (AD 1583) of the Wanli Times in the Ming Dynasty, Baisha Mural focus on Tibetan Buddhism, Han Buddhism and Taoism. Combining the art style of Zang, Han and Naxi perfectly, it is not only an outstanding art works, but also important study materials of Naxi history and culture.

Each painting includes at least one hundred portraits, which are not only Buddha, but also ordinary people such as bureaucrats, farmers, citizens and even criminals. Dominated by black, silver, dark green, gold and red colours, the murals in the back hall, overlaid with centuries of brown soot, are doomladen and bizarre. The scenes and figures, some still vivid in detail, are largely taken from Tibetan Buddhist iconography and include the wheel of life, judges of the underworld, the damned, titans and gods, Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Many of the scenes and subjects are drawn from people's daily life showing fishing, riding horses, weaving, dancing and casting iron.